The Boilermaker assistant coaches had their first day of media availability Tuesday.

Hired Jan. 19, 2012, Tim Tibesar is in his first season with the Boilermakers. He will serve as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

"I am thrilled with the addition of Tim Tibesar to our coaching staff," Hope said. "He is on the cutting edge of the science of defensive football. The Canadian Football League is an offensive league - with 12 players per side on a wider field and three downs to get a first down - and features the zone read game that we are seeing more and more of at the college level. Tim knows how to defend that offense, and I am excited to see him bring his defense to Purdue.

"The head coach of Montreal, Marc Trestman, is one of the great minds in football, and he could not have offered a more glowing recommendation. Tim is a high-energy, high-morals guy who our players will really like. He's a bona fide winner. Our football program got significantly better today."

In Montreal, Tibesar (pronounced TIB-eh-sar) was promoted to defensive coordinator for the 2011 season after spending the previous two years as the linebackers coach. The 2011 Alouettes completed the regular season with the CFL's top-rated run defense, allowing merely an average of 92.4 yards per game.

Montreal went 10-8 during the regular season before getting edged out by Hamilton in overtime of the East Division semifinal in the playoffs. With Tibesar on staff, the Alouettes captured the CFL's 2009 and 2010 Grey Cup as the league's top team. He was an integral part of the 2009 defense that helped Montreal rank as one of the top units in CFL history. The 2009 Alouettes finished the season ranked first in 22 of the league's 26 defensive categories and finished second in fewest points allowed per game in CFL history.

He joined the Alouettes after spending three seasons at Kansas State, the first (2006) as special teams coordinator and the final two (2007-08) as defensive coordinator.

Under his direction in 2007, the Wildcat defense led the Big 12 Conference in sacks per game (2.5) and finished fifth in the conference in turnover margin. At K-State, Tibesar mentored six players that earned All-Big 12 honors.

In 2006, KSU scored more special teams touchdowns (7) than any team in the nation, leading the country with a school-record three TDs on kickoff returns, ranking second nationally with three TDs on punt returns and returning a fumbled kickoff return for another score.

In the return rankings, Kansas State ranked No. 1 in kickoff returns and No. 16 in punt returns, while ranking No. 18 in kickoff-return defense. The Wildcats also blocked three punts during 2006.

Individually, senior Yamon Figurs ranked fifth nationally in average punt return yardage, while junior Tim Reyer finished the season with a 42.1 yard-per-punt average to rank 30th in the country.

Current Purdue running backs coach Cornell Jackson served as the linebackers coach with Tibesar in Manhattan in 2008.

Tibesar was regarded as one of the top defensive coordinators in all of Division II prior to his arrival at Kansas State.

A 1995 summa cum laude graduate of North Dakota, Tibesar returned to his alma mater in 2001 as the program's inside linebackers coach. In 2004, he was promoted to defensive coordinator and proceeded to assemble a unit that ranked first in the North Central Conference in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense, pass efficiency defense and quarterback sacks over the next two seasons. He joined the staff at North Dakota after spending one season as Cornell's tight ends coach in 2000.

A standout linebacker at North Dakota from 1993 to 1996, he served as a team captain for the Fighting Sioux in 1995 and 1996. A three-time All-NCC performer and the 1996 NCC Most Valuable Linebacker, he earned multiple first team All-America honors in 1996 and was named a Football Gazette Third-Team All-American in 1995. He was also a GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1996 and a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete.

In 1996, he received the Stan Marshall Award as the NCC Male Athlete of the Year and during his four years there, he helped North Dakota to NCC titles and NCAA Division II playoff appearances in 1993, 1994 and 1995 as the Fighting Sioux posted a 36-11 record.

Born Aug. 27, 1972, Tibesar graduated from North Dakota with a 4.0 grade-point average in economics. He earned a master's degree in business administration from San Diego State in 1998. He and his wife, Jill, have one daughter, Elle.